Top-scoring schools on the 8th-grade MCAS

Schools are ranked on the percentage of students scoring "Advanced" or "Proficient" on the 8th grade MCAS exams, taken in the spring of 2006. Readers should keep several cautions in mind: A ranking can make too much of small differences; districts ranking far apart on the list may have only slightly different scores. Districts draw students from communities that vary widely in wealth, the education level of parents, number of students with English as a second language, and other factors. Source: Boston.com calculations from Mass. Department of Education figures.